When you know

When you know that you know who you love, you can't deny it.
Or go back, or give up, or pretend that you don't buy it.
When it's clear this time you've found the one, you'll never let him go
Cos you know and you know that you know.

When you feel in your skin in your bones and the hollow
Of your heart, there's no way you can wait till tomorrow.
When there isn't any doubt about it once you come this close
Cos you know and you know that you know.

You can feel love's around you like the sky 'round blue
This is how love has found you, now you know what to do.

When you know that you know who you need, you can't deny it.
Or go back, or give up, or pretend that you don't buy it.
When it's clear this time you've found the one, you'll never let him go
Cos you know and you know that you know.

Happy Birthday Pedro

Pedro was not able to understand what was happening; the place which had been his home for the past nine months was in a kind of a huge turmoil. The usual peace and calm seemed to have changed to some sort of abnormal restlessness; he could feel the jostling and the struggle. It was not long before he sensed that he was actually being forced out of his home. Unable to understand what was happening and why it was happening he closed his eyes and waited for peace to return; but that was not going to happen soon.

With a sudden gush of oddly smelling air, much different and lighter than what he was used to breathe, he felt someone holding his head with one hand and his arms by other and trying to pull him out. Totally amazed by the sudden change of surroundings and surprised by the new things he was able to see, Pedro felt helpless in the hands of a complete stranger. When he opened his eyes he could see a dozen unknown faces and a lady lying on a bed with tears and a smile at the same time on her pink sweaty face. While he was trying to understand what exactly has happened, someone pinched him hard on his stomach. “Ouch!!! My God” he screamed and couldn’t help himself from bursting into tears. While he was crying his lungs out he was surprised to see that his tears brought huge wide smiles on the faces of others.

Apart from the people present in the room, there was someone else smiling high above in the sky. He stared at the little kid and whispered with a grin on his face – Happy Birthday Pedro.

Marley and Me

If you think that this post is anything about the movie, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. Though the movie is the reason that it has been written, I am leaving it upon you to see how and what the movie actually is.

We never had pets. One of the reason being the belief of my father that he wont be able to accommodate one more animal in the house after me and my brother. Now that I am away from my family and maybe would be starting my own in a couple of years, I think whether I would be having one. I have always read, heard and even seen that pets bring a lot of joy and happiness into people's life and somehow manage to disturb the stagnancy which often creeps in monotonous lives. If I would really be ready to have one at some point in my life, is really a point with lot of ambiguity.

The one and only apparent reason which I can see stopping me to take that step would be the fear of loss. Against the advice of wise men, I often get attached to small things; living and non living. And when I loose them, I am not able to get over them for a long period of time. Though I have not experienced a loss of anything "living" till now, but the fact that the loss of a non-breathing object imparts such a pain inside me, really scares the hell out of me when I think about the former kind of loss. I know for sure that it would be heart breaking and maybe remain inside me for a long time. So to be safe and sure, I don't think I would take such a chance ever.

Well, life is a anything but predictable. Who knows one day a post comes up on this blog describing how much fun a pet has brought into my life. As of now, it seems a distant possibility. Whatever future has in store, I would always remember these lines from the movie (not the exact wordings) -

How many people in this world make you feel special? How many make you feel extraordinary? How many of them love you the way you are? A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.

Not so lucky

Well, against my expectations, he didnt show up. I waited for around 1 hour but no one came.

Cannot do anything about it, but yeah - another lesson learnt. Hope I am able to build on this experience.

Oh no!! Not again :(

Well, time and again I have promised myself not to be careless. But I think this particular character trait is permanently engraved inside me. To the series of losses I have incurred, a new was added today morning – My cellphone, Nokia N95.

I went for running in the morning with the phone in my pocket, as I always do and as I am doing for the past many years. I ran for around 40 minutes and returned back home only to realize that the phone is missing from my pocket. I ran back to all the places I expected it to be, but no use; it was gone.

I came back home and tried calling the number. Initially, no one picked up but later some guy picked and asked who is calling? As my Spanish is not good, I was not able to speak to him and soon he hung up. I rushed to office, so that I could make someone from office talk to him. One of my friends called the number again and talked to the guy. Seemingly, the guy is ready to return the phone but wants money in return. He is not asking for much money (around 5 USD) but is insisting to meet only sometime in the evening. He has agreed upon the time and the place – 7PM near my house. To make things more interesting, my phone doesn’t have enough battery and it can switch off anytime during the day.

It is 10 AM right now and I cant wait for the clock to strike 7. I cannot even explain what kind of thoughts are running in my mind right now. Maybe it is Karma; you do wrong and you get wrong in return. But I do not remember doing much wrong in the recent past. Whatever it is, though my mind is telling me to give up the hope and be prepared to buy a new one, my heart is clinging hard to the thin string of expectations that the guy maybe is not as bad as I suppose him to be. Maybe there are still some good people in this world.

I made some promises to myself; about things which I would stick to if I get the phone back. I would like to make them public, so that I won’t forget them soon after I get the phone (if at all I get it)

• I would never carry my phone for running.
• I would stick to the schedule I made a couple of days back and which I am not following due to laziness.
• I would do all the things which I know I should and I am not doing anyways.
• Finally, a promise which I always make to myself – I will start being careful.

Will update the blog in the evening if (or not) I get my phone.

Avocado y Guacamole

Avocado is something I never heard of before I came to Mexico. My first personal encounter with the fruit was quite amazing. Before I start describing that, I want you to know what exactly an Avocado is.

Avocado or more commonly known as aguacate in the Spanish speaking world is a pear shaped fruit with an egg shaped seed at the center. I have seen two variants of the fruit – one with a hard outer inedible coating which has to be removed before you eat it & another with a thin blackish-purple skin which can be eaten along with the fruit. This fruit has a buttery texture similar to how a banana feels if you peel it and hold it in your hand (that slippery greasy touch). It is light green in color from inside and has a mild taste. See here for more details.

I have been eating this fruit almost as early as 2 months after I arrived to Mexico. The main source of it was the Taco shop just outside my office. The guy at the shop used to put it in my tacos. Also, I ate it in the form of Guacamole at the local restaurants but that started only since a couple of months back when I started eating Mexican food frequently. While living with my Indian friends I never experimented much in terms of food and always stuck to basic Indian cooking. But now that I got an independent apartment with more freedom in terms of choice and variety of cooking I decided to explore the available options. Including Avocado in my cooking was the first thing which crossed my mind. I bought a couple of them during one of my visits to the local super.

It was the first time I was buying Avocados & hence I had no idea how to choose them. I just bought three good looking “firm” fruits and came back home. I had seen the man at the Taco shop peeling and putting them in the food and hence I knew that the fruit was expected to be soft and creamy. But the ones I bought were firm and raw. So I thought that maybe I have to boil them before I eat. I boiled the poor little fruits for more than hour before I came to know thru one of my friends that it is only the ripened fruits that you have to buy and if you buy raw ones, you have to wait for a couple of days for them to get ready. To give a parallel, just imagine something like boiling a raw mango to make it ripe and yellow :)

I am totally in love with the fruit and its taste. I make sandwiches, guacamole, put it in chutneys and even eat them with my salads. Check out the videos below to catch a live glimpse of the fruit.

Avocado the fruit




The delicious Guacamole

A runner's paradise

Running is something which gives me a lot of mental satisfaction. I really enjoy running for long stretches and getting drenched in sweat. It somehow helps me get rid of my stress and other mental pressures apart from keeping me active.

So when I decided that I am going to continue with this passion of mine after I reached Puebla for my 4th trip of Mexico, I was faced with some disturbing little problems. First was a rather dangerous “canine” problem. Yeah, you read it right – canine. The first day when I set out of my house for a run, a huge furry white dog almost bit me on my leg. From that day onwards I was so watchful for dogs that I could hardly concentrate on my thoughts or on the running itself. The second main problem was the traffic. To avoid the dogs in the residential areas, I was running on the side-lanes of the main road and hence was confronted by fast and furious flow of traffic. So again, I had to be very careful about how and where I am keeping my steps. These things virtually sucked all the joy out of my running.

Yesterday when I stepped out again, I saw a huge football field with a nice racing track just across the road, at a distance of around 5 minutes by walk from my house. I have been eyeing it for long but since it was adjacent to a big school and I didn’t know the local language so that I could go and ask, I was avoiding entering the field. But this time somehow my legs automatically took me inside the campus.

I saw a couple of people standing there and I decided to go and talk to them. I approached them and asked “Hablar ingles??” they said, “No”. I knew it was no use waiting there to find for an English speaking guy. But before I would decide to quit, I thought of giving it another try. I saw another gentleman coming my way and I asked the same question to him. Hesitatingly, he replied, “Yes, por que”. I was happy. I said, “Una pregunta. Do I need a permission to enter this field and do some running?” He said “No! Its free”. I replied,” Muchas Gracias” and left the place.

The place was a real paradise for a runner - lush green football field surrounded with a contrasting red running track. I could run forever at that place if my body allows me to. I ran for about 30-35 minutes before coming to a grinding halt. It was getting dark and I had many things to do at home. I just took some pictures with my mobile and started walking towards my apartment.

I was so happy that I got such a nice place to run where I do not have to worry about life threatening traffic or perilous dog-bites.

Here are some photos